The objective of the second biennial American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) conference is to provide a forum for emerging ideas and empirical results of health economics research. More specifically, the goal is to facilitate a large community of health economists to gather to present and discuss high quality papers representing new and innovative research in important areas of health economics. The outcomes include better research, generation of new research ideas, development of junior researchers, dissemination of cutting- edge ideas, and better policies. One of the topical areas is aging. Plenary speakers, scientific sessions, and posters will cover topics such as quality of care, Medicare (e.g. FFS vs. HMO and prescription drug plans), retirement and health, VA services, disparities in health and treatments, old age assistance programs and health, long-term care, preventive services for elderly, disparity, health insurance coverage, diffusion of technology, gender differences, health production functions, and econometrics, among others, that would move forward NIA's research agenda. We are now in the review phase of selecting papers, so the exact number of papers directly related to aging is still being determined (last conference had 15). However, about 40 papers, that we deem to be directly related to aging, have been submitted. Many of the health economists who will attend are NIA grantees, and others may become interested in these topics after hearing the plenary speakers and the papers presented. One of our two invited plenary speakers, Mark McClellan, PhD, senior fellow at the AEI-Brookings Joint Center, Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, and Leonard D. Schaeffer Director's Chair in Health Policy Studies, will likely speak on health insurance, quality of care, and aging, drawing on his time at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. McClellan is known for his work on Medicare and promoting high quality, innovative and affordable health care. The second biennial ASHE conference will be held at Duke University in Durham, NC on June 22-25, 2008. There will be pre-conference session held on Sunday, June 22. Regular scientific sessions will be held Monday through Wednesday, June 23-25. We expect attendance of about 700. ASHE is a relatively new organization, formed as an affiliate of iHEA. We had a very successful inaugural meeting at the University of Wisconsin in 2005. Through the conference, ASHE provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among health economics researchers, policy makers, and those who fund health economics and health policy research. We hope that NIA will be interested in funding a small portion of the total cost of this conference, particularly the aging-related components. Project Narrative The objective of the second biennial American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) conference is to provide a forum for emerging ideas and empirical results of health economics research. The second biennial ASHE conference will be held at Duke University in Durham, NC on June 22-25, 2008, with a pre-conference session held on Sunday, June 22. We hope that NIA will be interested in funding a small portion of the total cost of mounting the aging-related aspects of this conference. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]